Water sealed hopper



1944' T. B. ALLARDICE 2,339,215

WATER SEALED HOPPER Filed Sept. 27-, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 1a INVENT OR. THOMAS E AZZAFD/CE ATTO/PA/EVS Jan. 11, 1944. T. B. ALLARDICE WATER SEALED HOPPER Filed Sept. 27. 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR THO/7A5 B AZZAPD/Cf' BY M ATTOIP/VEYS Patented Jan. 11', 1944 UNITED {STATES PATENT OFFICE Thomas B. Allardice, Mountain Lakes, N. J., as-

signor to The Allen-Sherman-Hoff Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 27, 1941, Serial No. 412,675

4 Claims.

This invention relates to ash hoppers having water seals at their upper ends, and particularly to such hoppers having means which support the upper ends of said hoppers and afford cooling means for ashes and air moving therepast in the hopper.

Heretofore ash hoppers have been built which were provided with water seals to prevent passage of air or gas between the upper ends of the hoppers and the lower walls of a combustion chamber of a furnace. Since the upper ends of the hopper walls were not connected to the furnace or combustion chamber walls, supporting means were provided outside of the hopper walls to resists outward bulging or collapse of the walls due to pressure exerted on them by ashes within the hopper. Such supports were expensive and sometimes occupied space which could have been used to advantage for other purposes. The present invention avoids the use of such outside supports together with the cost thereof while affording adequate support to the hopper walls against outward movement or collapse.

Hoppers built heretofore have been provided with means for spraying cooling water into the hopper, but since these sprayers were in the hopper walls they did not afford, in themselves, any protection to the hopper bottom or upright walls against the heat from the combustion chamber, and the spray curtains they created were not uniform thruout the hopper. By the present invention the spraying means, in themselves, alford protection to the hopper walls and bottom and form a spray curtain which extends across the hopper and is substantially uniform.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal, vertical, sectional view of a hopper embodying one form of the present invention, the said hopper being shown in association with a portion of a cooperating furnace;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 and taken on line 22 of that figure; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary, vertical view showing the attachment of the hopper wall to a water tube.

In the drawings the walls I' are disposed below the combustion chamber 2 of a modern fuel burning furnace. Depending from walls I are metal walls 3 which extend vertically down within the walls 4 which extend around all four walls 5 of hopper 6 and outside of Walls 5. The walls 4 and 5, together with the horizontal walls 1 form a water trough which, with walls 3, constitute a seal against gas escape from or into the furnace.

A plurality of metal tubes 8 extend transversely across the hopper and thru the opposite side wall 5, where they communicate with the interior of the trough. These tubes 8 are secured in any suitable manner, as by weld metal In, to the metal framework of walls 5 and afford adequate support to these walls near their upper ends to prevent outward bulging or collapse of the side walls due to the weight of ashes within the hopper.

Preferably each of the pipes 8 is provided with a plurality of small downwardly and outwardly extending apertures 9 thru which water from the trough may be sprayed into the interior of the hopper. When these tubes are suitably spaced apart fromeach other and the apertures 9 are of a size suitably proportioned to the static head of water in the trough, a more or less uniform water screen is formed across substantially the entire hopper which screens, together with the pipes themselves, aiford protection to the walls and bottom of the hopper therebeneath against the heat radiating from the combustion chamber. In this manner the life of the refractory lining material on the hopper walls and bottom is substantially prolonged.

It will be noted that the pipes 8 may, and preferably do, perform the several functions of affording adequate support to the side walls of the hopper against outward bulging or collapse, spraying cooling water onto the hot ashes falling therepast tending to cool any air which is flowing upwardly in the hopper, and affording protection to the bottom and the lower parts of the hopper walls against the radiant heat of th combustion chamber.

Having thus described my invention so that others sln'lled in the art may be able to understand and practice the same, I statethat what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is defined in what is claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. An ash hopper having opposite side walls and an open upper end, a water seal aroundthe hopper near its upper end and a plurality of water carrying and spraying, wall supporting metal tubes extending across the hopper and secured at their ends to the opposite hopper side walls, said tubes opening at each end intosaid water seal.

2. An ash hopper having opposite side walls and an open upper end, a water seal surrounding said hopper at its upper end and wall supporting metal tubes extending across the hopper and secured at their ends to the opposite hopper side walls, said tubes opening at each end into said water seal and having a. plurality of small openings between the hopper walls to spray water into the interior of the hopper.

3. An ash hopper having opposite side walls and an open upper end, a water seal surrounding said hopper at its upper end and wall supporting metal tubes extending across the hop per and secured at their ends to the opposite hopper side walls, said tubes opening at each end into said water seal and each of said tubes havtheir ends to said side walls and communicating "with the interior of the seal.

THOMAS B. ALLARDICE. 

